Direct combustion type plunger hydraulic pump

ABSTRACT

A direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump, comprising a combustor ( 1 ), a high-temperature heat exchanger ( 2 ), a steam chamber ( 3 ), at least one cylinder plunger mechanism ( 10 ), a steam refrigerator ( 15 ) and a control system, wherein the high-temperature heat exchanger ( 2 ) is connected with the combustor ( 1 ) through a pipe; the steam chamber ( 3 ) is a sealed container, in which a water nozzle ( 4 ) is arranged above the high-temperature heat exchanger ( 2 ); the cylinder plunger mechanism ( 10 ) is mounted above the steam chamber ( 3 ) and mainly consists of a cylinder ( 20 ) and a plunger ( 21 ); a piston of the cylinder ( 20 ) is connected with a piston of the plunger ( 21 ) through a mandril ( 30 ) with a reset mechanism; an inlet valve ( 22 ) communicated with the steam chamber ( 3 ) is provided at the bottom end of the cylinder ( 20 ), and an exhaust valve ( 23 ) is provided on a side wall of the cylinder ( 20 ); an oil outlet and an oil inlet are provided at the top end of the plunger ( 21 ); the exhaust valve ( 23 ) is connected with the steam refrigerator ( 15 ) through an exhaust pipe ( 14 ); and the refrigerator ( 15 ) is connected with a water tank ( 8 ). The direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump has the advantages of simple structure, energy conservation and high efficiency, and most of the thermal energy generated by fuel provides hydraulic machines with power by heat exchange so that the energy consumption is small.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The disclosure relates to the field of hydraulic power, in particular to a direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump which uses fuel to directly convert thermal energy into hydraulic energy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the mature application of the hydraulic technology, more and more mechanical equipment completely utilizes hydraulic energy as the driving power, such as a hydraulic excavator, a full-hydraulic road roller, a hydraulic drill, a full-hydraulic forklift, and so on, with the common characteristics as follows: no the traditional mechanical transmission mechanism, and all the mechanical actions are completed by driving a hydraulic motor and a hydraulic cylinder through hydraulic energy. The hydraulic pump is a power component for providing hydraulic energy and functions to convert the mechanical energy of a prime mover into hydraulic energy to provide power for the whole hydraulic system. The hydraulic pump is generally in a structural form of a gear pump, a vane pump and a plunger pump. The plunger hydraulic pump relies on a plunger to reciprocate in a cylinder, so as to change the capacity of a sealed working chamber to absorb and press oil. The plunger pump has the advantages of high rated pressure, compact structure, high efficiency, convenience in flow regulation and the like, so as to be widely applied to the occasions where the pressure is high, flow is large and flow regulation is required, such as in various hydraulic mechanic equipment mentioned above.

In the conventional art, the plunger pump is mainly divided into an axial plunger pump and a radial plunger pump, the shafts of both of which are driven by an engine or a motor to convert the rotation motion of the shaft into the reciprocating motion of the plunger, thereby converting the mechanical energy of the prime mover into the pressure energy of liquid. In the energy conversion process, the inventor(s) of the present application found that the process, thermal energy is converted into mechanical energy via a diesel engine and the mechanical energy is converted into the hydraulic energy via a hydraulic oil pump, is experienced. Due to the limited current mechanical efficiency conversion level, the two conversion steps have a very high energy loss. Particularly in the process of converting the thermal energy into the mechanical energy via the diesel engine, only a small part of thermal energy is utilized for expansion work, and most of the thermal energy is released by exhausted gas and a radiator, therefore, the energy loss is very large. In the current situation of dwindling global oil resources and continuously rising energy price, how to conserve energy and reduce emission in various economic construction activities has become the issue concerned by the world.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The technical problem to be solved by the disclosure is to provide a direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump which directly uses fuel to convert thermal energy into hydraulic energy, in order to reduce the intermediate link of energy conversion and lower the energy loss to achieve the purpose of energy conservation and consumption reduction.

The technical problem is solved by the following technical solution in the disclosure:

A direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump of the present disclosure comprises a combustor 1, a high-temperature heat exchanger 2, a steam chamber 3, at least one cylinder plunger mechanism 10, a steam refrigerator 15 and a control system, wherein the high-temperature heat exchanger 2 is connected with the combustor 1 through a pipe and is provided in the steam chamber 3; the steam chamber 3 is a sealed container, in which a water nozzle 4 is arranged above the high-temperature heat exchanger 2 and is connected with a water supply valve 5, a water pump 7 and a water tank 8 through a water pipe; the cylinder plunger mechanism 10 is mounted above the steam chamber 3 and mainly consists of a cylinder 20 and a plunger 21; a piston of the cylinder 20 is connected with a piston of the plunger 21 through a mandril 30 with a reset mechanism; an inlet valve 22 communicated with the steam chamber 3 is provided at the bottom end of the cylinder 20, and an exhaust valve 23 is provided on a side wall of the cylinder 20; an oil outlet connected with a high-pressure oil pipe 12 and an oil inlet connected with an oil tank are provided at the top end of the plunger 21; the oil inlet and the oil outlet is provided with a check valve 26 respectively; the exhaust valve 23 is connected with the steam refrigerator 15 through an exhaust pipe 14; and the condensate water drain pipe of the steam refrigerator 15 is connected with the water tank 8.

The reset mechanism on the mandril 30 is a spring 11 which is sleeved on the mandril 30 and is provided above the piston of the cylinder 20.

The reset mechanism on the mandril 30 is a rocker arm structure, which consists of a rocker arm base 24, a rocker arm 25 and a connecting rod 31; the middle part of the rocker arm 25 is movably connected with the rocker arm base 24; the two ends of the rocker arm 25 are connected with the mandrils 30 of two cylinder plunger mechanisms 10 through the connecting rod 31 respectively; and the connecting rod 31 is hinged with both the rocker arm 25 and the mandril 30.

The steam refrigerator 15 is provided with a circulating cold water pipe 16 connected with a hydraulic oil water cooler 17 and/or an air conditioner 18.

In the present disclosure, the water pipe connected with the water tank 8 and the water nozzle 4 is connected with a low-temperature heat exchanger 6, the low-temperature heat exchanger 6 is connected with the high-temperature heat exchanger 2 through a pipe.

At least one safety valve 13 communicated with the exhaust pipe 14 is provided on the steam chamber 3.

The control system comprises a microprocessor 28, a travel sensor 27 mounted on the mandril 30, a temperature sensor 19 mounted on the high-temperature heat exchanger 2, a pressure sensor 9 mounted in the steam chamber 3, a combustor controller 29 arranged on the combustor 1, a water supply valve 5, an inlet valve 22 and an exhaust valve 23; the signal input end of the microprocessor 28 is connected with the travel sensor 27, the temperature sensor 19 and the pressure sensor 9 in parallel, and signal output end of the microprocessor 28 is connected with the combustor controller 29, the water supply valve 5, the inlet valve 22 and exhaust valve 23 in parallel.

The present disclosure does not need a prime mover to provide power, does not convert the thermal energy into the mechanical energy by an engine, and then does not convert the mechanical energy into the hydraulic energy by a hydraulic pump. Compared with the conventional art, the present disclosure saves the complex crankshaft connecting rod flywheel and other mechanisms; and most of the thermal energy generated by fuel is used for doing work so that the energy consumption is small. Therefore, the present disclosure has the advantages of simple structure, energy conservation and high efficiency, and will provide the full-hydraulic mechanical equipment with a revolutionarily improved power source.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the major structure of a direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of a cylinder plunger mechanism of another structure of the disclosure; and

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the principle of control system of the direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump of the disclosure.

In the drawings,

1-combustor, 2-high-temperature heat exchanger, 3-steam chamber, 4-water nozzle, 5-water supply valve, 6-low-temperature heat exchanger, 7-water pump, 8-water tank, 9-pressure sensor, 10-cylinder plunger mechanism, 11-spring, 12-high-pressure oil pipe, 13-safety valve, 14-exhaust pipe, 15-steam refrigerator, 16-circulating cold water pipe, 17-hydraulic oil water cooler, 18-air conditioner, 19-temperature sensor, 20-cylinder, 21-plunger, 22-inlet valve, 23-exhaust valve, 24-rocker arm base, 25-rocker arm, 26-check valve, 27-travel sensor, 28-microprocessor, 29-combustor controller, 30-mandril, and 31-connecting rod.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The disclosure is further explained below in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 1, a combustor 1 is connected with a high-temperature heat exchanger 2 through a pipe; and the high-temperature gas generated by the combustion of the combustor 1 directly enters the high-temperature heat exchanger 2. The high-temperature heat exchanger 2 is located in a steam chamber 3 which is a sealed container; a cylinder plunger mechanism 10 is mounted above the steam chamber 3, in which a water nozzle 4 is arranged above the high-temperature heat exchanger 2; and water will be vaporized by high temperature to generate steam when injected to the high-temperature heat exchanger 2 so that the whole steam chamber is in a high-pressure state due to the continuously generated steam. The water nozzle 4 is connected with a water supply valve 5, a low-temperature heat exchanger 6, a water pump 7 and a water tank 8 through water pipes; and the low-temperature heat exchanger 6 is connected with the high-temperature heat exchanger 2 through an exhaust pipe. The cylinder plunger mechanism 10 mainly includes a cylinder 20 and a plunger 21; the cylinder 20 is correspondingly provided with the plunger 21, the piston of the cylinder 20 and the piston of the plunger 21 are connected with each other through a mandril 30 with a reset mechanism; the reset mechanism on the mandril 30 is a spring 11, which is sleeved on the mandril 30 and is provided above the piston of the cylinder 20; the cylinder can be pushed to the initial state through the spring 11; an inlet valve 2 communicated with the steam chamber 3 is provided at the bottom end of the cylinder 20, and an exhaust valve 23 is provided on a side wall of the cylinder 20; an oil outlet connected with a high-pressure oil pipe 12 and an oil inlet connected with an oil tank are provided at the top end of the plunger 21; and the oil inlet and the oil outlet is provided with a check valve 26. The exhaust valve 23 is connected with a steam refrigerator 15 through an exhaust pipe 14. The condensate water drain pipe of the steam refrigerator 15 is connected with the water tank 8; and a circulating cold water pipe 16 could be also added on the steam refrigerator 15 so as to connect with a hydraulic oil water cooler 17 and/or an air conditioner 18 for heat radiation.

Various combustors could be selected as the combustor 1 of the disclosure as required; diesel, gasoline, natural gas or others could be adopted as the fuel; and a combustor combusting solid fuel is even available in the disclosure. The combustor can work as long as the high-temperature gas generated by combustion is imported into the high-temperature heat exchanger.

The high-temperature heat exchanger 2 used by the disclosure functions to transfer the thermal energy generated by the combustor to water so that the water will be vaporized under heating. In the conventional art, a ceramic high-temperature heat exchanger, for example, can raise the temperature to more than 1,000 degrees centigrade.

The steam refrigerator 15 used by the disclosure belongs to the conventional art, which takes lithium bromide—water as working media and takes the saturated steam imported by the exhaust pipe 14 as power to absorb the thermal energy in the steam and condense the steam into water. Meanwhile, it can also provide cold water to the outside, and discharge the cold water through the circulating cold water pipe 16, and the cold water can be used for a hydraulic oil water cooler 17 and a cab air conditioner 18. Of course, in some special occasions, in the disclosure the steam refrigerator could also be replaced with a common steam condenser which will not affected the use of the present disclosure only if the steam discharged from the cylinder 20 is condensed into water to be imported to the water tank 8.

The cylinder plunger mechanism 10 used by the disclosure can also adopt the structure as shown in FIG. 2. The reset mechanism on the mandril 30 of the cylinder plunger mechanism 10 is a rocker arm structure which consists of a rocker arm base 24, a rocker arm 25 and a connecting rod 31. The rocker arm 25 is connected between two cylinders; the rocker arm base 24 is fixed on a rack; the middle part of the rocker arm 25 is movably connected with the rocker arm base 24; the two ends of the rocker arm 25 are connected with two mandrils 30 through the connecting rod 31 respectively; and the connecting rod 31 is hinged with both the rocker arm 25 and the mandril 30. When being pushed by high-pressure steam to do work, a cylinder piston pushes another cylinder piston to reset through the rocker arm. The cylinder adopting the rocker arm structure must be arranged in pair.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the principle of control system of the present disclosure. The control system includes a microprocessor 29, a travel sensor 27 mounted on the mandril 30, a temperature sensor 19 mounted on the high-temperature heat exchanger 2, a pressure sensor 9 mounted in the steam chamber 3, a combustor controller 29 arranged on the combustor 1, a water supply valve 5, an inlet valve 22 and an exhaust valve 23. The signal input end of the microprocessor 28 is connected with the travel sensor 27, the temperature sensor 19 and the pressure sensor 9 in parallel, and its signal output end is connected with the combustor controller 29, the water supply valve 5, the inlet valve 22 and the exhaust valve 23 in parallel.

Through the scheme above, in the present disclosure, fuel is combusted by the combustor 1 to generate thermal energy, water is vaporized into steam by the high-temperature heat exchanger 2 to form high pressure in the steam chamber 3, and the high-pressure steam directly pushes the piston in the cylinder 20 to move. Since the piston of the cylinder 20 is connected with that of the plunger 21 through the mandril, the piston in the plunger 21 will move synchronously so as to discharge the hydraulic oil in the plunger 21 through a high-pressure oil pipe 12 to generate hydraulic energy. After pushing the cylinder 20 to do work, the steam can enter the steam refrigerator 15 through the reset mechanism of the mandril 30 to release its thermal energy and be condensed into water to enter the water tank 8. The steam refrigerator 15 absorbs the thermal energy of the steam, and the discharged cold water can be used for cooling hydraulic oil or the cab air conditioner. After releasing thermal energy through the high-temperature heat exchanger 2, the combusted gas enters the low-temperature heat exchanger 6 again to further recycle thermal energy to preheat the water which is going to enter the steam chamber 3. Very little heat will be discharged to the outside so that the loss of thermal energy is reduced greatly.

In operation, the combustor 1 ignites to blow the thermal energy into the high-temperature heat exchanger 2; the microprocessor 28 acquires the temperature of the high-temperature heat exchanger 2 through the temperature sensor 19 and sends an instruction to open the water supply valve 5 after it reaches the set temperature. The water pump 7 and the water supply valve 5 are opened at the same time; and water from the water nozzle 4 is sprayed to the high-temperature heat exchanger 2, generates steam under heating, and form high pressure in the steam chamber 3.

The pressure sensor 9 transmits the pressure condition in the steam chamber 3 to the microprocessor 28, which sends an instruction to open the inlet valve 22 after the pressure reaches a certain pressure value; and the high-pressure steam enters the cylinder 20 to push the piston in the cylinder 20 to move synchronously with the piston in the plunger 21 so that the hydraulic oil in the plunger 21 is discharged from the high-pressure oil pipe 12 to form hydraulic energy.

The travel sensor 27 transmits the location of the piston of the cylinder 20 to the microprocessor 28, which sends an instruction to close the inlet valve 22 and open the exhaust valve 23 at the same time after it reaches the set location; and the cylinder is reset via the reset mechanism on the mandril 30 so that the steam in the cylinder 20 is discharged from the exhaust valve 23. The steam discharged from the exhaust valve 23 enters the steam refrigerator 15 through the exhaust pipe 14, the thermal energy therein exchanges to the steam refrigerator 15, and the steam will be further condensed into water, which enters the water tank 8, thereby completing the circulation of steam-water.

To improve the utilization efficiency of thermal energy of fuel, the present disclosure is further provided with the low-temperature heat exchanger 6, which is used for absorbing the heat in the gas discharged from the high-temperature heat exchanger 2, and uses the heat to preheat the water which is going to enter the steam chamber. The discharged combusted tail gas is lower in temperature after passing through the low-temperature heat exchanger 6, while the water entering the steam chamber 3 is easier to be vaporized into steam since it absorbs certain thermal energy.

A plurality of cylinder plunger mechanisms 10 can be designed for the present disclosure as required, so as to meet the requirements of large-flow hydraulic energy. When the flow needs to be regulated according to different load, it is only necessary to control the microprocessor 28 to open different numbers of inlet valves 22 so as to obtain hydraulic energy of various flow, therefore, it is easy to realize the function of a variable pump. The diameter of the piston in the cylinder 20 can be larger than the diameter of the piston in the plunger 21 so that hydraulic energy of higher pressure can be obtained from steam of lower pressure. Of course, in some special occasions, on the contrary, the diameter of the piston in the cylinder 20 is less than the diameter of the piston in the plunger 21 so that hydraulic energy of low pressure and large flow can be obtained.

The steam chamber 3 is provided with one or more safety valves 13; and when the pressure in the steam chamber 3 exceeds the set value, the safety valves may be opened to discharge partial steam to ensure the safety. The steam discharged from the safety valves 13 also enters the exhaust pipe 14.

In a normal working state, the microprocessor 28 can regulate the number of plungers involved in operation by controlling the number of the opened inlet valves 22 according to the requirements of the outside load, so as to provide hydraulic oil of different flow. The amount of water entering the steam chamber 3 can be controlled precisely by controlling the water supply valve 5, so as to precisely control the pressure of steam in the steam chamber 3 and keep the pressure in the steam chamber 3 stable; and the firepower of the combustor 1 is increased or reduced by controlling the combustor controller 29 to keep the temperature of the high-temperature heat exchanger 2 stable, therefore, the whole machine can work in the optimal state. 

1. A direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump, comprising a combustor, a high-temperature heat exchanger, a steam chamber, at least one cylinder plunger mechanism, a steam refrigerator and a control system, wherein the high-temperature heat exchanger is connected with the combustor through a pipe and is provided in the steam chamber; the steam chamber is a sealed container, in which a water nozzle is arranged above the high-temperature heat exchanger and is connected with a water supply valve, a water pump and a water tank through a water pipe; the cylinder plunger mechanism is mounted above the steam chamber and mainly consists of a cylinder and a plunger; a piston of the cylinder is connected with a piston of the plunger through a mandril with a reset mechanism; an inlet valve communicated with the steam chamber is provided at the bottom end of the cylinder, and an exhaust valve is provided on a side wall of the cylinder; an oil outlet connected with a high-pressure oil pipe and an oil inlet connected with an oil tank are provided at the top end of the plunger; the oil inlet and the oil outlet is provided with a check valve (26) respectively; the exhaust valve is connected with the steam refrigerator through an exhaust pipe; and the condensate water drain pipe of the steam refrigerator is connected with the water tank.
 2. The direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump according to claim 1, wherein the reset mechanism on the mandril is a spring which is sleeved on the mandril and is provided above the piston of the cylinder.
 3. The direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump according to claim 1, wherein the reset mechanism on the mandril is a rocker arm structure, which consists of a rocker arm base, a rocker arm and a connecting rod; the middle part of the rocker arm is movably connected with the rocker arm base; the two ends of the rocker arm are connected with the mandrils of two cylinder plunger mechanisms through the connecting rod respectively; and the connecting rod is hinged with both the rocker arm and the mandril.
 4. The direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump according to claim 1, wherein the steam refrigerator is provided with a circulating cold water pipe connected with a hydraulic oil water cooler and/or an air conditioner.
 5. The direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump according to claim 1, wherein the water pipe connected with the water tank and the water nozzle is connected with a low-temperature heat exchanger, the low-temperature heat exchanger is connected with the high-temperature heat exchanger through a pipe.
 6. The direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump according to claim 1, wherein at least one safety valve communicated with the exhaust pipe is provided on the steam chamber.
 7. The direct-fired plunger hydraulic pump according to claim 1, wherein the control system comprises a microprocessor, a travel sensor mounted on the mandril, a temperature sensor mounted on the high-temperature heat exchanger, a pressure sensor mounted in the steam chamber, a combustor controller arranged on the combustor, a water supply valve, an inlet valve and an exhaust valve; the signal input end of the microprocessor is connected with the travel sensor, the temperature sensor and the pressure sensor in parallel, and signal output end of the microprocessor is connected with the combustor controller, the water supply valve, the inlet valve and exhaust valve in parallel. 